Collapsible last



Patented June 27, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFF-ICE COLLAPSIBLE LASTApplication February 7, 1939, Serial No. 255,123

5 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in lasts of the kind comprisinghingedly connected foreparts and heel sections; and the invention hasreference, more particularly, to an improved means cooperative with thehinging connection between the forepart and heel sections for yieldablyretaining said parts in operative extended or in collapsed relativedisposition as the case may be.

The invention has for an object to provide, in a last having hingedlyconnected forepart and heel sections, a novel form and construction oftensional or spring coupling link and housing means therefor which isdisposed perpendicular to and so as to be capable of swinging movementacross the axis of the hinge connection between said forepart and heelsections of the last, with one end portion thereof fulcrumed on atransverse anchor pin with which the forepart section of the last isprovided, and the other end portion of which is engaged with atransverse anchor pin with which the heel section of the last isprovided; all in such manner that said heel section is strongly butyieldably retained by the tensional resistance of said spring couplinglink, in either extended or collapsed relation to the forepart section.

The invention has for a further object to provide in a novel assembledrelation, a novel form of spring coupling link and housing therefor,wherein the housing consists in a unitary member comprising laterallyspaced side plates joined by an intermediate transverse web extendingbetween opposed longitudinal margins thereof to provide an interiorhousing space toy snugly receive the spring coupling link, and whereinsaid spring coupling link 'comprises a bowed spring body terminating inend loops having doubled back arms to converge upon and abut thetransverse web of said housing when said spring coupling loop isoperatively assembled with the latter; the end portions of said housingside plates having openings through which anchor pins may extend tooperatively engage the bights of the loops of said spring coupling link;all whereby a unitary assembly is provided of comparatively narrowwidth, which consequently may be operatively accommodated within thelast sections without necessity for undue cutting away of the bodies ofthe latter with resultant weakening thereof.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel housed springcoupling link as above mentioned, wherein the terminal loops of thebowed spring body are so braced by impingement of their arms upon a wallof the housing, that stretching or other undesired deformation of thebearing loops, with consequent weakening and impairment of the tensionalaction of the spring body, is efliciently prevented, and consequently aspring link of high efiiciency and long life is assured.

Other objects of this invention, not at this time more particularlyenumerated, will be understood from the following detailed descriptionof the same.

An illustrative embodiment of this invention is shown in theaccompanying drawing, in which:-`

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional View of a collapsible last equippedwith the novel housed spring coupling link according to this invention;Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional View, taken on line 2 2 in Fig. l; Fig.3 is a perspective view of the novel spring coupling link; and Fig. 4 isa perspective View of the novel housing for said link.

Similar characters of reference are employed in the above describedviews, to' indicate correspending parts.

Referring to the drawing, the last, in the illustrative form thereofshown therein, comprises a forepart section l@ and a heel section H. Themeeting ends of said sections are so formed that one such end, e. g. theheel section end, is provided with a transverse cylindrical tongue l2,and the other such end, e. g. the forepart section end, is provided witha conforming hollow bearing seat I3 to cooperate with said hinge tongueI2 to thereby pivotally relate the last sections for relative movement.Said sections lil and Il are further respectively provided at theirmeeting ends, and at o-ne side of the hinge connection, with cooperatingstop shoulders I4 and I5, which, when mutually engaged, determine theoperative extended relation of said forepart and heel sec-- tions. Insimilar manner, said sections lil and Il are also respectively providedat their meeting ends, and at the other side of the hinge connection,with relatively normally divergent stop shoulders I6 and l1, which, whenmutually engaged, determine the collapsed relation of the forepart andheel sections. The described form and relation of last forepart and heelsections is well known to the art.

Indenting the hinged end of forepart section IIJ, intermediate the sidesthereof, is a longitudinally disposed recess or chamber A8; and, in likemanner, indenting the hinged end of the heel section Il, intermediateits sides, is a longitudinally disposed recess or chamber I9. Theserecesses or Ii f) chambers I8 and I9 are adapted to register in alignedopposition when the forepart and heel sections are operatively assembledtogether.

The novel housed spring coupling link means is adapted to be receivedand to lie within the opposed recesses or chambers I8 and I9, so as toextend between the forepart and heel sections I6 and I I of the last,and in crossing relation to the axis of the hinge connection providedbetween said sections. Said housed spring coupling link means comprisesa housing member constituted by sheet metal stamping formed to provide apair of laterally spaced longitudinally parallel side plates 20connected along opposed longitudinal margins by a transverse web orconnecting wall portion 2I. Each side plate 28 is provided, adjacent toits respective ends, with openings or eyes 22; the openings or eyes atcorresponding ends of said side plates being transversely aligned. Thespring coupling link comprises a bowed body 23 capable of longitudinaltensional extension. Said body 23 terminates in end loops 24 havingdoubled back terminal arms 25. This spring coupling link is insertedwithin the housing member so as to lie within the interior thereofbetween the side plates 20. The spacing of the housing member sideplates is dimensioned to snugly accommodate said spring coupling linktherebetween. When the spring coupling link is operatively disposedwithin the housing member, the bights 26 of the end loops 24 are alignedwith opposed openings or eyes 22 at the ends of the housing member, andthe extremities of terminal arms 25 are disposed to impinge upon thetransverse web or wall portion 2! of said housing member.

To operatively mount the housed spring coupling link in operativerelation to the hingedly related forepart and heel sections Ill-II ofthe last, the same is inserted within the recess or chamber I8 of theforepart section I8 to extend therefrom into the recess or chamber I9 ofthe heel section II, and thus in crossing relation to the hingeconnection between said sections. When thus disposed, an anchor pin 2Tis driven transversely through the forepart section I so as to passthrough the aligned eyes or openings 22 and an end loop 24 at one end ofthe housed spring coupling link; and, in like manner, an anchor pin 28is driven transversely through the heel section I I so as to passthrough the aligned eyes or openings 22 and the end loop 24 at theopposite end of the housed spring coupling link. The disposition andrelative spacing of the anchor pins 21--28 is such that when engagedwith the end loops 24 of the spring coupling link, the body 23 of thelatter is placed under longitudinal tensional stress, suiiicient tostrongly but yieldably retain said forepart and heel sections in stoppedextended or collapsed relation, as the case may be.

Under the broader aspects of this invention, said spring coupling linkmay be of any desired cross-sectional shape; specifically, however, thesame is made of rectangular cross-sectional shape as shown, such shapecontributing several advantages, viz.. the link so shaped possessesgreater mass and consequently stronger tensional characteristics, andalso provides at bearing surfaces at the bights of the end loops 24,thus providing a broader bearing contact with the anchor pins 21-28,with less likelihood of scoring the surfaces of the latter, withresultant tendency to weaken said pins and at the same time to relax thetensional stress set up and desired to be maintained in the springcoupling link body.

Owing to the fact that the extremities of the terminal arms 25 of theend loops 24 of the spring coupling link impinge or abut the web or wallportion 2I of the housing member, said end loops 24 are rmly braced andheld against drawing distortion or other deformation likely to result inrelaxing the tensional stress set up and necessary to be maintained inthe spring coupling link body. This is of great importance andadvantage, and is a considerable factor both in maintaining theeiiiciency of the spring coupling link, and in assuring its durabilityin use through a long life period.

It will also be no-ticed that the housed spring coupling link is ofcomparatively narrow over all width, and consequently requires but aminimum cutting away of the forepart and heel sections of the last forthe purposes of providing the recesses for the reception of said housedlink; with the consequence that undue weakening of the bodies of thelast sections is avoided.

In operation, when the forepart and heel sections ID and II of the lastare disposed in operative extended relation (as shown by the full linesin Fig. l) the spring link structure inclines between the anchor pins27-28 on line extending angularly above the axis of the hinge connectionbetween said last sections, and the longitudinal tensional stress of thespring link structure tends to strongly and rmly mutually draw said lastsections into extended relation, as determined by the meeting of thestop shoulders Ill- I thereof, thus yieldably holding said sections insuch relation, but strongly enough to prevent collapse thereof underpressures and strains to which the last is subjected when in worksupporting use.

To collapse the forepart and heel sections I8- II, the heel section isswung downwardly relative to the forepart section about the intermediatehinge connection until it occupies the collapsed position determined bythe meeting of the stop shoulders I6-I'I (see dotted representation inFig. l). As the heel section is thus swung downwardly, the spring linkstructure will swing about the anchor pin 2 of the forepart section II)as a fulcrum and past dead center alignment with the hinge connectionbetween the last sections. Owing to its longitudinal tensionalextensibility, the bowed body 23 of the spring link will stretchinglyyield to this movement, and once the point of dead center alignment ispassed, will thereupon, by its normal tendency to contract, strongly andiirmly mutually draw the last sections to and will yieldably hold thesame in collapsed relation as determined by the engagement of said stopshoulders IB-II.

From the above dcscripttion it will be obvious that this inventionprovides a novel and highly emcient housed spring coupling link forcollapsible lasts, wherein the housing member rmly guards the springlink per se against lateral displacement or distortion; and wherein theterminal arms of the loop ends 24 of the spring link, by reason of theirfirmly retained impinging relation to a wall of the housing member,serve to ef.V1 ciently guard the loop ends 24 against relaxingdistortion relative to their operative anchored connection with theanchor pins 2?-28 of the last sections.

Having now described my invention, I claim:

1. In a last having hingedly connected relatively movable forepart andheel sections provided in their meeting end portions with matchinglongi- 'I6 tudinally disposed and opposed recesses, a spring couplinglink and housing therefor snugly embraced within said recesses, saidlink comprising a longitudinal tensionally extensible body terminatingin end loops providing doubled back arms to impinge on a wall of saidhousing to support said loops against deforming stresses, and anchorpins carried respectively by said last forepart and heel sections toextend through said housing ends into anchoring engagement with thebights of said link end loops to thereby pivot said link and housing forswinging movement across the axis of the hinged connection between saidlast sections.

2. In a last structure as defined in claim 1, wherein the springcoupling link is formed from material of rectangular cross sectionalshape.

3. In a last having hingedly connected relatively movable forepart andheel sections provided in their meeting end portions with matchinglongitudinally disposed and opposed recesses, a sp-ring coupling linkand housing therefor snugly embraced within said recesses, said housingcomprising spaced side Walls between which said link lies and aconnecting transverse wall joining. opposed longitudinal marginalportions of said side Walls, said link comprising a longitudinal Iterminally extensible body terminating in end loops having doubled backterminal arms to impinge upon said transverse Wall of said housing tosupiport said loops against deforming stresses, said housing having eyesin the end portions of its side walls aligned with the bights o said endloops, and anchor pins respectively extending transversely through saidlast forepart and heel sec tions to pass through said housing side walleyes into anchoring engagement with the bights of said link end loops,said anchor pins pivoting said link and its housing for swingingmovement across the axis of the hinged connection between said lastsections.

4. A spring coupling link and housing therefor adapted for use betweenpivotally related last sections, the housing comprising spaced sidewalls and a connecting transverse wall joining opposed longitudinalmarginal portions thereof, and said link comprising a longitudinaltensionally extensible body terminating in end loops having doubled backterminal arms to abut said trans verse wall of the housing to supportsaid loops, when anchored, against deforming stresses, and said housingside walls having eyes in the end portions thereof to pass anchor pinsinto anchoring engagement with the sights of said link end loops.

5. In a spring coupling link and housing therefor as defined in claim 4,wherein the link is formed from material of rectangular cross sectionalshape.

EMIL DIETZE.

